diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/mapping/internal/ToOneAttributeMapping.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/mapping/internal/ToOneAttributeMapping.java
index b2dd2b44219a..2ea28fad2a9c 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/mapping/internal/ToOneAttributeMapping.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/mapping/internal/ToOneAttributeMapping.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 import org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.qual.Nullable;
 import org.hibernate.AssertionFailure;
+import org.hibernate.MappingException;
 import org.hibernate.annotations.NotFoundAction;
 import org.hibernate.cache.MutableCacheKeyBuilder;
 import org.hibernate.engine.FetchStyle;
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@
 import org.hibernate.mapping.Property;
 import org.hibernate.mapping.ToOne;
 import org.hibernate.mapping.Value;
+import org.hibernate.metamodel.RepresentationMode;
 import org.hibernate.metamodel.UnsupportedMappingException;
 import org.hibernate.metamodel.mapping.AssociationKey;
 import org.hibernate.metamodel.mapping.AttributeMetadata;
@@ -248,6 +250,27 @@ public ToOneAttributeMapping(
 				declaringType,
 				propertyAccess
 		);
+
+		if ( entityMappingType.getRepresentationStrategy().getMode() == RepresentationMode.POJO ) {
+			// validate the type.
+			var declaredType = propertyAccess.getGetter().getReturnTypeClass();
+			if ( !Object.class.equals( declaredType ) ) {
+				var targetType = entityMappingType.getMappedJavaType().getJavaTypeClass();
+				if ( !declaredType.isAssignableFrom( targetType ) ) {
+					throw new MappingException(
+							String.format(
+									Locale.ROOT,
+									"To-one mapping [%s.%s] was mapped with targetEntity=`%s`, but the attribute is declared as `%s`",
+									declaringType.getNavigableRole().getFullPath(),
+									name,
+									targetType.getName(),
+									declaredType.getName()
+							)
+					);
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
 		sqlAliasStem = SqlAliasStemHelper.INSTANCE.generateStemFromAttributeName( name );
 		isNullable = bootValue.isNullable();
 		isLazy = navigableRole.getParent().getParent() == null
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/mapping/manytoone/BadTargetTests.java b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/mapping/manytoone/BadTargetTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..40af0eae9ce0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/mapping/manytoone/BadTargetTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc. and Hibernate Authors
+ */
+package org.hibernate.orm.test.mapping.manytoone;
+
+import jakarta.persistence.Entity;
+import jakarta.persistence.Id;
+import jakarta.persistence.JoinColumn;
+import jakarta.persistence.ManyToOne;
+import jakarta.persistence.Table;
+import org.hibernate.MappingException;
+import org.hibernate.boot.MetadataSources;
+import org.hibernate.boot.spi.MetadataImplementor;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.Jira;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.ServiceRegistry;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.ServiceRegistryScope;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.Setting;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.fail;
+import static org.hibernate.cfg.SchemaToolingSettings.HBM2DDL_AUTO;
+
+/**
+ * @author Steve Ebersole
+ */
+@SuppressWarnings("JUnitMalformedDeclaration")
+@Jira( "https://hibernate.atlassian.net/browse/HHH-7202" )
+@ServiceRegistry(settings = @Setting( name = HBM2DDL_AUTO, value = "create-drop" ))
+public class BadTargetTests {
+	@Test
+	void testIt(ServiceRegistryScope registryScope) {
+		var model = (MetadataImplementor) new MetadataSources( registryScope.getRegistry() )
+				.addAnnotatedClasses( Foo.class, Bar.class, Baz.class )
+				.buildMetadata();
+		try (var sf = model.buildSessionFactory()) {
+			fail( "Expecting a failure" );
+		}
+		catch (MappingException expected) {
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Entity(name="Foo")
+	@Table(name="foos")
+	public static class Foo {
+		@Id
+		private Integer id;
+		private String name;
+		@ManyToOne(targetEntity = Baz.class)
+		@JoinColumn(name = "bar_fk")
+		private Bar bar;
+
+		public Foo() {
+		}
+
+		public Foo(Integer id, String name, Bar bar) {
+			this.id = id;
+			this.name = name;
+			this.bar = bar;
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Entity(name="Bar")
+	@Table(name="bars")
+	public static class Bar {
+		@Id
+		private Integer id;
+		private String name;
+
+		public Bar() {
+		}
+
+		public Bar(Integer id, String name) {
+			this.id = id;
+			this.name = name;
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Entity(name="Baz")
+	@Table(name="Baz")
+	public static class Baz {
+		@Id
+		private Integer id;
+		private String name;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/resources/org/hibernate/orm/test/quote/DataPoint.hbm.xml b/hibernate-core/src/test/resources/org/hibernate/orm/test/quote/DataPoint.hbm.xml
index 393a55b0afa0..7ae7b1a446fc 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/test/resources/org/hibernate/orm/test/quote/DataPoint.hbm.xml
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/resources/org/hibernate/orm/test/quote/DataPoint.hbm.xml
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
 			<generator class="native" />
 		</id>
 		
-		<many-to-one name="manyToOne" column="o2mid" class="DataPoint"/>
+		<many-to-one name="manyToOne" column="o2mid" class="AssociatedDataPoint"/>
         
         <set name="manyToMany" table="m2mjointable" inverse="true">
             <key/>